#MicroPoetry|October ’18 Reflections

The world and all of its challenges can feel daunting, in fact overwhelming. We sometimes compare ourselves to ‘heroes of change’ and too often this can lead to a sense of inadequacy that saps our agency. What would it mean, however, if we did not think of the grandiose act or discovering the fix or solution, but – instead – endeavoured to do what we can do to affect what we can do in our context. What if our small acts, like a single ripple, were combined intentionally with others’? What might it mean, if we chose to combine our single acts to nurture the world to which we all aspire?

We often are so busy that we do not reflect on the life cycle and that our tomorrows will one day, no longer come. This recognition is not mired in despair or cynicism. Rather, with an orientation to intention, what might celebrating the tomorrows look like when we know we have blessed gift and dreams to offer one another and ourselves? How might that celebration lead us into action to shape and mould these dreams into reality? This verse plays with the idea and hopefully conveys a sense of hope in celebrating the life we have now …

We so easily fall into patterns. These patterns and habits tend to blur each day into the next creating a sort of amnesia-like walk that is linear in nature. This walk often subdues our ability to wonder. But wonder, if we stretch back to when we were learning something new, when we discovered a passion, when we were confronted with a moment or experience that lay totally out of normal, is the moments when we are fully alive and become creators, both individually and collectively. In this musing, I am playing with the image of a new day beckoning in which we take seriously that what the Now looks like begins with what we intend to create …

Who do you want to be?
To what do we aspire?
What words do we use to liberate or oppress?
How do we use words to limits ourselves & others?
The questions we ask determine – often – what we see. This poetic verse explores the power of choosing what words we use, because reality is directly connected to those choices.

Words can bind or liberate, inspire or subjugate. They are never neutral when spoken, written, painted or adorned. How we speak, what we say and how we say it is as powerful as a woven spell. I truly believe if we took this seriously and intentionally, we would be much more compassionate with what we say to ourselves and to one another. This verse endeavours to reflect on the power of how we string words together in a way that hopefully offers challenge and hope.

Strength is often equated with brute force that rushes through people and places in a way that often leaves violent debris. It is also often thought of as an extension of might and force that results in a winner and a loser. Another image of strength, however, might be a tree that sways in gale force winds and remains standing. Another might be the incremental power of water to reshape landscapes. Here, I am attempting to offer an alternative to the stereotype of strength that too often obscures other images and meaning.

What does simplicity mean to you?
How do you see it in nature?
In the world we have shaped?
Often the idea is used to compare and contrast. Other times, it is used to place one as better than the other. And – other times – it is a reminder that seeing the beauty of a thing, simply as a what it is, without overthinking, is indeed a gift. This musing plays with simplicity – as manufactured or in nature – as a reflection of beauty.

“Life happens when you are busy making others plans.”
I know of no truer way to frame life’s journey then this musical line from John Lennon. It encapsulates the fragility and tenacity of our lives. Those inevitable moments, in which we have no control, do and will happen. What we do in them, sometimes, has no script or schedule to get through. In those moments of loss and despair, though words may fall, the gift of touch can speak louder. This verse explores this fragile space.